Œuvres complètes. Romans, contes et nouvelles (review)

There can be few better ways of developing familiarity with the Parisian literary and cultural world in the decades after 1830 than a systematic reading of everything Théophile Gautier wrote, whether as creative writer or as cultural commentator. Few figures of note (and, indeed, few of the lesser scribblers, daubers, and tunesmiths) would go unencountered. As for his eccentricities, they were as representative of the age as his ambiguous relationship with the array of genres he practised, the majority of which were indelibly marked by the new medium of journalism. For the researcher-critic who is inclined to turn his cicerone into his primary subject of investigation, there is the beguiling opportunity for a fundamental reappraisal of a writer whose long-term neglect and traditional depiction in literary manuals have together allowed a portrait to prevail that is at once too dismissive and too flattering. What remains to be explored, at the level of synthesis rather than thematic specificity or generic particularity, is, precisely, the subtle relationship between originality and contemporary commonplace in an œuvre (if that is an appropriate term for an output of seemingly such varied status) characterized by ironic fluency. The investigator free of a priori assumptions is promised an unfamiliar, and surprisingly consistent, picture.

Yet the injunction to read 'tout Gautier' is not easily obeyed. Although the past thirty years have seen significant editions of his better-known works, his correspondence and portions of his art criticism (accompanied by a flurry of often valuable criticism), the dutiful reader has still to struggle with the bibliographical challenge of the Lévy and Charpentier editions, to say nothing of runs of newspapers on microfilm. The decision to publish the author's Œuvres complètes, is, therefore, timely. There is understandable vagueness about the number of volumes this will entail (the drama criticism will occupy '20 volumes environ'), but it is safe to assume a minimum of fifty. The volume containing the plays and ballets has already been published and is now followed by three of the seven volumes of 'Romans, contes et nouvelles'. The latter constitute a disappointingly uneven achievement. Symptomatic of the edition's own uncertain status is the absence of any overall description of scope or editorial practice. One might have expected some justification of the project beyond a desire for completeness. An introductory survey of Gautier's output, with indications of possible critical itineraries, would likewise have been welcome, while assumptions regarding the extent and purpose of introductory matter and annotation vary considerably according to the inclination of the individual editor.

Anne Geisler-Szmulewicz's lengthy introduction to Mademoiselle de Maupin betrays an earnest compulsion for inclusiveness and a zealous commitment to the description of Gautier's formal practice. Included, too, are accounts of the work's critical reception and impact on other writers (though without any explicit reference to Balzac's 'Camille Maupin'). While somewhat overwhelming as an 'introduction', it offers a valuable reading that disposes convincingly of the critical clichés that have beset a proper understanding of the novel. The annotation is remarkable for its range of reference, Geisler's responsiveness to the text going way beyond the identification of proper names and obvious instances of allusion. She none the less confuses the titles of Janin's L'Âne mort and Apuleius's L'Âne d'or, has a note of dubious precision on Pigault-Lebrun, fails to illuminate adequately the contemporary mockery of Balzac as 'le romancier de la femme', and misspells such names as Considerant and Guttinguer. Equally committed to extensive...